Chapter 7

Good days and bad days… It was either one of them, it was never both and it was never in the middle.

Rachel watched the people walking past her in a café while sipping her coffee; they were smiling like there was no tomorrow… and how she wished she was one of them. After a series of bad days, it was as if good days never existed anymore.

It had been almost a month since she spent the night with Ross, and he still hadn't called her. She also found out Laura wouldn't be moving to New York anymore, so she no longer could afford the apartment she wanted; without her parents' help of course. And although her interview in Fortunata Fashions went well, she didn't know the owner would hire her to assort mannequin heads and fix tangled hangers.

Since she already had work, she had to live on the couch of Kristin who only had a one-bedroom apartment.

Her New York dream became a nightmare, and she knew she was about to give up soon.

"Rachel?" she heard a voice from behind, "is that you?"

Rachel turned to her surprise; it was her high school best friend. "Monica?"

"Oh my God!" Monica nearly yelled, running to her friend.

"I haven't seen you in ten years!" Rachel stood up and gave her a hug.

"I know!" She exclaimed in a way only she can say. "I thought you wouldn't recognize me!"

"Oh please! You did lose a lot of weight, and you look oh so lovely!" Rachel smiled and took a deep breath. She missed Monica. Monica was her only true friend in High School—the only one that saw through her, the only one who wasn't "plastic."

Monica hugged Rachel once more, "How are you?"

"Ugh, I'm actually glad to see you – to brighten up my day!" Rachel sneered. "Are you busy? Would you like to join me for coffee?"

Monica thought in silence. She hadn't seen Rachel for such a long time and she missed her so much. "Sure, I'm just gonna call in sick. I wouldn't want to miss this opportunity… I might not see you in ten years again," she joked.

Rachel laughed. She went back to her seat and waited for Monica.

As soon as Monica finished calling Alessandro's, she sat across Rachel and began their conversation. "Oh hey, I saw your parents in Long Island a couple of Sundays ago!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I had lunch with my parents in the country club and I met them. I asked them how you were and your mother said you were here in the city. I actually asked for your number but she forgot to give it cause my mother interrupted."

"Oh wow. I was supposed to be in that lunch but my sister overslept!" Rachel frowned.

"Let me guess," Monica thought, "Amy?"

"Yes!"

Both girls snickered.

"Anyway, how are you? What have you been doing?" Rachel eagerly asked.

"Well, I've been great. I'm single and I'm working as a sous-chef for Alessandro's. What about you?"

"I'm single," the word made her frown, "I'm working as an 'assistant' for Fortunata Fashions," the thought made her frown even more, "and I'm currently homeless." Rachel looked down, the realization of her state was surely depressing.

"Homeless?"

"My friend and I were supposed to move in this apartment Chelsea… but she backed out a few weeks ago. And now that I found a sucky job here, which I can't leave because I don't want to go back to my parents' house," she heard Monica laugh, "I'm homelessly living on my best friend's couch."

Monica suddenly tilted her head and watched Rachel as she sipped her coffee, "You know what, my roommate moved out a couple months ago and transferred to her own apartment."

Rachel slowly set down her mug on the table and paid attention to every word Monica was going to say.

"And, well I thought I could make it alone without a roommate, but it gets really lonely… and expensive." Monica smiled, "Are you interested in moving out of your friend's couch?"

Rachel jumped up in delight, "Are you serious?"

Monica chuckled, "Yes. I live in Greenwich Village; it's not far from Chelsea at all!"

"Monica!" Rachel squealed, "You are like my savior!"

"I know!" she replied, "at least I know who my new roommate will be."

Rachel sat down again and sighed, "Oh this is so exciting, Monica!"

"Oh you'll love my apartment. It has a great view of Manhattan, it's not at all expensive because of my grandmother-"

"Nana?"

Monica nodded, "She made me live in it."

"Oooh, rent control!" Rachel cooed.

"And, my friends live nearby! The Laundromat's across the street, there's a video store not far from my street, and there's also this great coffee shop below."

"When can I move in?" Rachel felt the caffeine giving her a sudden rush of excitement.

"As soon as you can!"

"And I don't think my parents would mind me living with you at all!" Rachel added.

The two friends caught up in excitement, reliving the past they had since they last saw each other. Little did Rachel know, the opportunity she just took would bring her even more surprises…

A few days later, Rachel was packed and was ready to move in. She met Monica's best friend and old, old roommate, Phoebe, in a familiar coffeehouse – Central Perk. Phoebe had a lot to say about Monica, that she was a good roommate but she was a cleanliness freak – something Rachel already knew the moment they met. Phoebe also mentioned that they had three other friends who were boys. They lived in the building across the street… and she warned her over and over again that they were rowdy, and that two of them would probably try to sleep with her. The other one, though he seemed gay, wasn't gay…

Rachel was enthused and even more excited. She only had one crazy friend in New York, Kristin, and now she was gaining more.

Rachel moved in the Saturday after she and Monica saw each other. Together with Phoebe, they brought up her three heavy luggage and two gigantic boxes.

"Are these just clothes?" Monica asked after looking at all five baggages in her living room.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, "and shoes."

Phoebe caught her breath as she entered the apartment carryingthe lastbox and complained, "Damn boys!"

"Where are they?" Monica frowned, remembering they asked their help a night before. They mentioned Monica was getting a new roommate… but after telling them that they 'she wasn't hot,' they hesitated on helping.

"Your brother's in some dig in China, Joe's probably eating pizza in his couch while watching Baywatch right about, " Phoebe checked her watch, "now. And Chan's with Joey, watching Baywatch too."

Rachel was amused… They knew each other too well. She suddenly remembered Monica's brother… that goofy and geeky guy who was so 'weird…' Whenever she'd see him in the Geller house, he would always run to his room and hide… and she always wondered why.

She laughed at the thought.

Monica and Phoebe looked at Rachel.

"Oh yeah, by the way, we have three other friends who are loveable assholes," Monica explained.

"Oooh, I already told her about them!" Phoebe added, "Their names are Chandler, Ross-"

"Ross?" Rachel felt her heart skip a beat.

"Yeah Ross, he's my brother… remember?"

"Oh!" Her nervousness subsided, "Yeah I remember him… didn't he always brag about his band in college?"

Monica nodded and laughed together with Phoebe.

Rachel sighed in relief. The last of Ross Gellershe remembered was his puberty mustache, curly black hair, electronic keyboard, and hideous taste for fashion; and carrying his battery-operated piano while singing his own songs. He was too much of a dork to be that handsome, insensitive ass who slept with her and never called her back.

"Well, I can't wait to meet them," Rachel smiled and looked around the messy living room, "But for now, I think I should put these in before that vein on Monica's forehead pops!"

Phoebe laughed, "How did you know that vein?"

"Oh please, it's been there since Monica was seven!" Rachel laughed as well.

"Great." Monica said under her breath, "How stupid was I to think you forgot everything about me."

Rachel just smiled at her and carried her luggage to the room of her new home.

Rachel woke up to a noisy Sunday morning. She heard voices in her bedroom, checked her clock and realized it was past eleven. Unbelievably, she had a great sleep in spite of it being her first night there.

She had night-long conversation with Monica; sharing her recent "tragic" life from Barry to this random guy she slept with who she really liked but didn't call her back. Monica, in return, shared her relationship with Richard Burke, a family friend of theirs. It came as a shock to Rachel but hey, he was hot.

It soothed Rachel knowing that even after a decade, Monica was still the same old best friend she grew up with.

"I'll give you five dollars if you make me eat this!" She heard a man ask from outside.

Monica answered, "Do you even know what that is?"

Rachel was intrigued; the voices she heard must be the rowdy boys they were talking about. She quickly got her robe, wrapped it around herself and came out.

Monica, Phoebe, Joey and Chandler stopped as they heard her come out of her bedroom.

Monica went to the living room, "Good morning!" She turned to her three other friends and introduced Rachel, "Guys this is Rachel Green. Rachel, that's Chandler and Joey."

Joey quickly stood up and offered his hand, "How you doin'?"

"Don't!" Monica yelled and looked at Rachel. "This is the one I was telling you about."

"Ooh," Rachel nodded and examined him from head to toe, "You look familiar."

Joey smiled proud, "That's cause I'm an actor. I'm Dr. Drake Ramoray from Days of Our Lives." Joey held out his hand and Rachel shook it. Before he could say anything else, she nonchalantly walked past him.

Whereas Chandler stood silently in the kitchen… He knew her… and he knew she knew him.

Rachel smiled at Chandler, "Hey, weren't you the one who hit on me in Avalon… um about a month ago?"

Chandler, extremely embarrassed, nodded and offered his hand, "Chandler."

Rachel, along with the others, chuckled. "Rachel," she replied, "and I'm sorry about that."

"Eeeeh, it always happens anyway." Phoebe replied, earning a laugh from them, except for Chandler who sarcastically gave her a 'thumbs up.'

"Where's the other one?" Rachel asked, looking around for Monica's geeky older brother.

"Oh my brother's flying in next week, you'll meet him then." Monica replied, going back to the table.

Rachel nodded her head and headed to the bathroom to wash up. As soon as she disappeared, the two boys converged with Monica and Phoebe.

"I thought you said she wasn't hot!" Joey complained.

"Well because I don't want you to hit on her!" Monica explained, "Remember what you did to Lucy? She stayed in my apartment for only two weeks because you slept with her and never called her back. You live across our building, for heaven's sake!"

"What about me? I didn't do anything to any of your roommates?" Chandler asked.

"But you already did something to her!" Phoebe laughed, "and apparently already she turned you down."

Monica chuckled, "And please, I know my brother. He had a crush on her since he was in 9th grade, I wouldn't want him to drive her away like what he did to Mona! It's hard to find good roommates you know!"

"Eh, Ross was hung up on some girl with a guy's name before he left for China. And besides, Emily's coming home from London soon so you don't have to worry about him," Chandler said.

"But I still have to be worried about Joey." Monica looked at her friend and saw him staring at the bathroom door, waiting for Rachel to come out.

"Joey!" the three of them exclaimed.

"What?" Joey pouted.

"No hitting on her. If you do, I'm gonna chop your little general off!" Monica warned him.

He frowned, "I won't hit on her. And please woman, my general isn't little!"

Ten minutes later, Rachel finally opened the door and came out in a robe with a towel on her head. The four of them jumped to their places and acted as if they were talking about something else. She smiled politely and crossed to her room.

Her aroma made the two men drop their jaws… and Monica and Phoebe caught them.

"From now on, I am not serving breakfast for you three," Monica scolded.

Joey commented, "Hey. Food is food. I don't care is she's hot, or- or if she smells good, or if she's sexy…" he snapped out of his daze, "But I need my eggs, toast and jam every morning."

That afternoon, Rachel enjoyed the day with her new friends in Central Perk. Although she had been there before but there was no point in mentioning why that place was familiar to her. She simply wanted to forget about it, she wanted to delete the memory of ever meeting Ross because her good days were coming back once more.

What surprised Rachel was that Phoebe, Chandler and Joey stayed together for the rest of week too. Rachel had never seen a bunch of friends who were so different from one another, but loved each other like anything. It made her feel jealous, actually, because she never had that set of friends.

Before work, they would all have breakfast in the apartment. After work, they would all hang out in Central Perk. And sometimes, they would hang out until dinner.

They couldn't get enough of each other. The way they talked was as if they hadn't seen each other in such a long time… somewhat like the conversations Monica and Rachel had.

Nevertheless, after a few days, her jealousy slowly faded because they made her feel like she was already a part of them. They made her feel 'at home.'

The following Saturday morning...

Having too much to drink with her friend Kristin in some bar the night before, she held her head in soreness … She dressed to meet her new group of friends in the living room, and as soon as Monica saw her, disheveled and in pain, she threw her a headache tablet.

Rachel smiled and thanked her, then headed to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, all messed up. She promised herself not to drink too much last night, but two gorgeous men approached her and Kristin, and offered them drinks. One of them even offered her a job in Bloomingdales and promised he would call her as soon as he could.

The night went on and they chatted away, before she knew it, she was already drunk with hard cocktails. 'Thank God I didn't do anything I'd regret,' she thought.

Rachel drank the medicine tablets and washed her face with cold water to sober up; brushed her teeth to vanish the alcohol stench; and did her other morning rituals.

She just wanted to sleep the whole day to nurse her aching head and wait for Mark, the man who offered her a job, to give her a call.

"So how was last night?" Monica asked as she came out, while setting food on the table.

"Good and bad," Rachel plopped down on the couch. "This guy offered me a job in Bloomingdales and said he would call me-"

"For sex," Joey cut her.

"What?" the three girls looked at him.

"Sex. You know, guys are only nice to women if they want sex." Joey said as-a-matter-of-fact, looking at Chandler for confirmation.

Instead, Chandler just shrugged, "I don't know."

Rachel continued, "and bad because my head is throbbing like it's about to pop."

Suddenly, the door opened with a greeting, "I'm home!"

Rachel stood up in shock… it was Ross.

I'm sorry it took long... I hope you enjoyed it though! Review?